Directly Subtle
by Ryuniyo
Summary: Joey goes to Kaiba, regretfully, to learn how to tie a tie. He somehow ends up learning the fine art of being 'directly subtle' Kaiba style.


Directly Subtle

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Ryuniyo

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of YGO. You guys all know the drill.

Rating: G

A/N-

Please read and review. Oh yeah, and enjoy. Pity neither are mandatory.

-Ryu

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"Um…"

Kaiba heard the nervous voice above him. He would have never bothered to acknowledge it, if he hadn't known whose voice dared to disturb him from his work--the mutt. Slowly shifting his eyes from the multitudes of paperwork in front of him, Kaiba gave Joey a slow glance and half his attention (the other half was idly concentrating on who to fire).

"Cat got your tongue, mutt?"

Joey began to fume at that comment, but didn't explode like Kaiba had expected. Instead he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened his eyes again while cocking his head to the left--a very puppy-like motion. Kaiba didn't say anything, waiting for Joey to make the first move. Obviously there was something on his mind, or something that he wanted--enough to come to his archenemy for. Kaiba's intrigue amplified as the silence dragged on. Why was the mutt so entranced by his clothes?

Indeed, throughout the whole stretch of silence Joey had been eyeing Kaiba's outfit of the day: taking in the black slacks, untucked pinstriped blue dress shirt, and obsidian black tie. Kaiba noticed Joey particularly paid attention to his tie.

"Speak." Kaiba commanded, and was amused as Joey seemed startled out of his intense study of the tie. He shot Kaiba a heated glare before mumbling something with his head down, hair blocking a prime view of his face, but Kaiba could detect a hint of pink glow.

"Can't hear you, mutt." Kaiba said.

"I…teach me…how to tie a tie." Joey's mumbled, though this time in a recognizable request.

Kaiba remained silent, enjoying how Joey squirmed like an impatient puppy. Finally seeing how Joey was on the verge of losing his patience, Kaiba spoke.

"Why didn't you ask one of your nerd squad friends to teach you?" Kaiba smirked, abandoning the paperwork scattered on his desk, focusing all his attention to the blonde. The blush was actually rather becoming--a soft dust that slowly deepened and bloomed.

"None of them know how, Kaiba." Joey said in something akin a growl. "Do you really think I would ask you if I had _people_ to ask? Trust me, I deployed every human I could find before coming to _you_."

"You would never succeed in business like that, mutt." Kaiba unconsciously began to twirl his pen between his fingers, a habit he was unaware of and it fascinated Joey for the oddest reason. The rich marble pen twirled between Kaiba's nimble long fingers--fingers you'd expect a pianist to have. "If you want a favor from someone, or anything in general, it's best not to insult them."

"So you're saying, successful business men are grade A ass suckers?" Joey stated in a mockingly thoughtful tone, "Then following that logic, you must be one of the very best."

Kaiba looked unaffected, he actually looked amused.

"Ah, so the puppy gets the general gist of logical thought process." Kaiba leaned back further into his chair, reclining in a way. "But the silly puppy should figure out," suddenly Kaiba lurched forward (though how anyone could lurch forward gracefully was beyond Joey) until he was a mere inch away from Joey. "There's a fine line between strategic word choice and full blown 'ass kissing' as you call it."

Joey didn't know why his breathing began to quicken. He didn't know why his heart began to race, or why his cheeks suddenly became so burning hot. Had Kaiba's eyes always been so clear and deep? Had Kaiba always smelled lightly of crisp mint and winter? Had Kaiba's voice always sound so…nice?

Kaiba smirked as he carefully studied the blonde.

"Sometimes you have to be direct," Kaiba leaned back and began to loosen his tie until it became loose enough to slip over his head--never once did he break eye contact with the blonde. "sometimes you have to be vague on what you want," Joey gulped at the intense stare Kaiba was giving him as he leaned back in. "And sometimes, you have to be directly subtle." Kaiba leaned even closer, their noses were barely a hairbreadth away from touching.

"Wear this tie with a maroon dress shirt and black slacks." Kaiba tossed the tie around Joey's neck slowly, allowing his fingertips to carelessly brush through thick, blonde locks before tightening the tie gently around Joey's neck. "It suits you. You can give me back the tie on Friday night, around 6 o'clock. It might be convenient to dress formally casual, enough for a nice Italian restaurant. Nino's has good pasta, wouldn't you say?"

Joey gaped like a fish.

"Remember, pup. Friday night. 6 o'clock sharp." Kaiba smirked as he gathered up his scattered work and packed up. Their shoulder's bumped against each other as he brushed by smoothly as a purebred cat. Just before he disappeared through the doorway Kaiba added as an afterthought, "You'll be home late, so inform your father not to wait up."

With that Kaiba breezed out with a small smirk that took permanent residence for the day. Joey on the other hand had bewilderment take over his face, before being kicked out by a goofy grin. He lightly touched the tie around his neck; it smelled like Kaiba.

Directly subtle, indeed.

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Not very subtle or crafty as I would have liked. Oh well.

Review, please. that's your cue to hit the little button that says 'go'.


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